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AeroVironment celebrates historic first powered flight on another world by Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

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AeroVironment, a developer of unmanned aircraft systems, celebrated with its colleagues at NASA/JPL when data confirming the Ingenuity Helicopter’s successful first flight on Mars arrived at approximately 3.50 am PT on April 19.

Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and CEO, says: “AeroVironment is proud to have played a key role in developing the Mars Ingenuity Helicopter and achieving today’s historic first powered flight on another planet.

“We congratulate JPL and NASA on today’s achievement and salute their leadership and vision for deploying unmanned technology to further our understanding of other worlds.” [Read more…] about AeroVironment celebrates historic first powered flight on another world by Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

Hanwha Aerospace earns ’Supplier Gold’ certification from Pratt & Whitney

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Hanwha Aerospace has received a “Supplier Gold” certification from the one of the world’s top aircraft engine manufacturers, Pratt & Whitney (P&W).

The certification is the product of a partner evaluation program known as RTX Supplier Gold, which is run by P&W’s parent company, Raytheon Technology Corporation (RTX). It is awarded only to exceptional partners who have not missed deadlines or exhibited any quality control issues for 12 consecutive months, while exhibiting continuous improvements and satisfying customers.

Dongwan Yoo, CEO of Hanwha Aerospace USA, says: “We are pleased to see that our unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction has been recognized. [Read more…] about Hanwha Aerospace earns ’Supplier Gold’ certification from Pratt & Whitney

Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

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Technology moves at a blistering pace, and what was modern and cool yesterday is outdated today.

That’s where UPS Airlines was with its Airbus A300 freighter aircraft fleet several years ago. The 52 wide-body “browntails,” with an average age of 18 years, have plenty of life left in them.

But the avionics in the cockpit needed a serious upgrade. The current flight management computers (FMC) used for navigation have just 200 kilobytes of storage. That was fine in 1983, when the A300-600 first flew, but nowhere near enough storage now. [Read more…] about Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

Rolls-Royce awards Hanwha Aerospace parts supplier certification

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Hanwha Aerospace has received the first Product Part Approval Process (PPAP) certification in the world from Rolls-Royce, one of the top three global aircraft engine manufacturers.

Established in 1884, Rolls-Royce is a UK-based aircraft engine manufacturer that, together with Pratt & Whitney and GE in the US, form the world’s top three engine makers.

The certification authorizes Hanwha Aerospace to perform PPAP inspections to verify that newly built aircraft engine parts meet requisite standards of quality. With the certification, Hanwha will also be able to approve the inspected engines for mass production. [Read more…] about Rolls-Royce awards Hanwha Aerospace parts supplier certification

Quaternium and Löweheiser claim ‘new flight record’ with Hybrix drone

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Quaternium has partnered with Löweheiser to achieve what it claims is “a new flight record” of 10 hours 14 minutes with HYBRiX drone. (See video below.)

The inventor of hybrid drones is making history again with an impressive hovering flight of 10 hours and 14 minutes with their world leading fuel-electric multirotor HYBRiX.

For this quest, Quaternium has partnered with the pioneer EFI manufacturer Löweheiser, a company that has designed the smallest fuel injection in the market, specifically optimized for unmanned aircrafts. [Read more…] about Quaternium and Löweheiser claim ‘new flight record’ with Hybrix drone

Honeywell to provide flight control technology for unmanned cargo plane

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Pipistrel has selected Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system for the Nuuva V300 cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), choosing a modern, lightweight, highly capable system with a proven architecture ideally suited for their autonomous cargo UAV.

Fly-by-wire computers act as the “brains” of an aircraft’s flight controls by operating them electronically and can be found inside nearly all large fixed-wing aircraft today.

The compact version from Honeywell has features derived from decades of expertise in fly-by-wire systems for airliners, but it’s much smaller – roughly the size of a paperback book. [Read more…] about Honeywell to provide flight control technology for unmanned cargo plane

Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane

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A startup company called Xwing has completed what it says is the “world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight” using a classic Cessna plane. (See video below.)

Aerospace experts at the company are working with the FAA to unveil pilotless plane technology for short-distance regional air transportation.

Xwing says it has successfully executed numerous passenger-carrying autonomous take-off to landing flights in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. [Read more…] about Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane

Airbus unveils autonomous airplane

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Aerospace giant Airbus has unveiled an autonomous airplane the company is using to research and develop pilotless technologies.

Following an extensive two-year flight test programme, Airbus says it has “successfully concluded its Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off and Landing (ATTOL) project”.

In completing this project, Airbus has achieved autonomous taxiing, take-off and landing of a commercial aircraft through fully automatic vision-based flight tests using on-board image recognition technology – a “world-first in aviation”, according to Airbus. [Read more…] about Airbus unveils autonomous airplane

Honeywell forms business units for unmanned aerial systems

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Honeywell has formed a new business unit dedicated to the growing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) industries.

The UAS business unit will continue Honeywell’s momentum and leadership in these emerging markets, utilizing Honeywell’s technology, software, services and certification expertise to meet customers’ needs in these markets.

Mike Madsen, president and CEO, Honeywell Aerospace, says: “Urban Air Mobility and Unmanned Aerial Systems will play an increasing role in the future of aerospace, with potential applications in all-electric urban air taxi vehicles, hybrid-electric unmanned cargo drones, optionally piloted airplanes, delivery drones and everything in between. [Read more…] about Honeywell forms business units for unmanned aerial systems

Hanwha Systems gearing up to enter air taxi market

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Hanwha Systems is making a $25 million investment in US air taxi startup Overair, and has received approval from the relevant authorities for the move.

Hanwha Systems and Overair research and development are planning to co-develop and bring the “Butterfly” to the US air-taxi market by the year 2025.

In early December of 2019, Youn-Chul Kim, CEO of Hanwha Systems, said that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved Hanwha Systems’ $25 million investment in Overair (previously K4 Aeronautics), a leading US air-taxi startup. [Read more…] about Hanwha Systems gearing up to enter air taxi market